The Decoy Shed

Pat, let me know and we will work something out. In your installment about starting a collection, you had some really good ideas for beginning collectors. When I first met Harvey Pitt, he gave me much of that same advice. I thought that I had a crazy idea when I started trying to piece Virgil's Armistice Day Storm Rig back together, bit I sure have met lots of great people and learned lots of stuff too. It has been a fun adventure and will probably be never-ending......12 down and 75 to go.You and Tim have started a great thing with your website. Keep up the good work!
If I only owned my own duplicator, you guys could do a segment on how factory decoys were made..... I have also gotten into collecting duplicator patterns. Some of the patterns have as much history to them as the decoys.

Tim
 
Tim (and Pat and all others contributing)~

Great idea - so happy you got everything together to make it happen. We had wanted to do something similar last year here on the east coast. We had a retrospective on the (sadly) defunct U. S. National Decoy Show (1923 - 1994, more or less) at the annual Long Island Decoy Collectors Association show.

We had wanted to assemble and film a round table of extant carvers but it never did happen. It's so important not only to get the carvers and gunners while they are still around, but also to have their stories recorded by people who really know about carving and gunning. You guys get high marks all around.

Like everyone else, I'm awaiting your next installments.

All the best,

SJS
 
Guys, I hesitated to post this and sincerely hope it won’t be taken as a slam of any sort.

Certainly, Pat and Jim are embarking on establishing what will be a wonderful resource for many would-be decoy carvers or collectors, and kudos to them for doing so. But after watching the video on using the band saw I was a more than a bit concerned about a particular piece of advice being proposed and decided to post this for everyone to ponder - as well as to ask Pat and Jim to consider a revision to the video on “Setting up the Head.”
It is definitely not safe practice to encourage the wearing of gloves of any sort while operating a band saw, especially the bulky gloves used in the demo. With gloves you simply have less of a feel for where your hands and fingers are around the blade, especially one with the skip-tooth or hook-tooth configuration most of us favor. ….and that is a very bad thing.

Yes, band saw blades will cut you easily; but the good news (if there is any good news to be had in that…) is that you will suffer anything from a nick to a bad cut. The blade is probably not going to grab your hand and pull it down. However, a band saw blade is very likely to grab a glove and the hand or finger within it … especially in instances when an un-gloved finger or hand would still be still a safe distance away.

The result may well be that as the glove keeps getting pulled into the blade; instead of the blade just cutting your hand, it’s more likely to lock it against the work table and continue to do damage to it. I hate to think of some newbie (or experienced vet for that matter!) with his hand trapped against the work table, unable to get away because that glove keeps getting pulled into the blade and mechanism.

By all means use safe procedures when working with a band saw! But please don’t wear gloves. Bottom line: with gloves on, you can’t accurately gauge where your hands and fingers are. The additional likelihood of your gloved hand being pulled into the blade means you are probably safer without the gloves.
 
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Bob - I appreciate you mentioning that. You're actually the second person that has shared that. Although I am not sure I agree, I do agree that the concept of the difficult cuts can be over the head of many carvers. I do stand by my gloves on the bandsaw and the Sand-Rite. Many times they have saved me.

I will confer with Tim on this point.

Thank you for caring enough to say something. I truly appreciate it! That is what makes this carving community the best. We care about each other... Thank you! Pat
 
Pat,
Thanks for the reply, however, I see the Sand Rite and a bandsaw as two very different animals. A four TPI, tempered steel bandsaw blade driven at full velocity and a sanding sleeve on a spinning pneumatic drum are going to result in entirely different rections and results when they come in contact with a glove.
Hoping that you and anyone who watches the video re-think this one. I don't want you to go down in the lore of decoy history as "Lefty" Gregory :)
 
Bob, Pat et al~

I'm of the no-gloves persuasion, but, more important: What blade configuration(s) do you use? Width, teeth per inch, etc.

I'm very fortunate in that my neighbor down the road (world-class woodworker with enormous shop) has the equipment to weld up blades right on site. I've been using 1/4", 8 teeth per inch. I'm very satisfied with it, for both heads and bodies (as well as odd jobs on boats, etc) - but am always open to new ideas (and maybe I'll buy my friend a new roll of blade stock on your recommendations).

Keep up the fine work!

SJS
 
Steve,

I use 105" blades on a Delta machine that is fitted with the riser block.

For cork and wood, I will alternate between 3/16" and 1/4" blades, but regardless of width always use blades that have four teeth per inch. I find that those two widths handle most decoy applications and radius cuts for my purposes. I also keep a couple of 1/2" blades in the shop for heavier work, and used them more extensively when I was doing wooden bodies.
Nothing close to the re-sawing blades that some woodworkers use. Sounds like you friend may have machines capable of handling those.
I am fortunate to have found a local saw blade shop that will make up blades, as well as repair breaks at the welds and re-sharpen.
 
Thanks for the reply, however, I see the Sand Rite and a bandsaw as two very different animals
Click to expand...

Actually, I think the Sandrite is potentially more dangerous, as if the bulky glove (or any loose fitting clothing) got caught in the drum, shaft, or end nut, the result would happen so fast you'd never be able to stop the machine fast enough.

I know the official safety recomendations (OSHA, etc) are not to use gloves while running equipment for just the reasons Bob has pointed out, however I do use tight fitting leather palmed work gloves for most of my woodworking. Though initial feel and dexterity is higher with the bare hand, if working for any period of time, I find the vibration numbing to the point where my "feel" over the workpiece is way less than if I were wearing gloves.

I realize the potential dangers, and have weighed the risks and this is how I work, for now, with a pair of hands that I personally value very much. Now at work, I wouldn't let people I'm supervising do it that way...follow the official protocol, lest the lawyers come out of the woodwork (so to speak).

Best
Chuck
 
I use 1/4 inch, 4 teeth per inch, hook tooth blade, 105 inches long which is a very aggressive blade on a 2 wheel Delta with a 1 hp motor. I also have a 1 hp motor on my Sand-Rite. Both are extremely dangerous and continually gain my utmost caution and respect.

I truly appreciate everyone's comments. I will say, in 30 years, a good pair of leather gloves has saved me many times. I can show you many pair of gloves with nicks and rubs from the bandsaw and sander that would have been my flesh had I not have gloves on. Two years ago, a friend of mine got the back of his hand pulled into a bandsaw blade cutting out a decoy. It severed two tendons. His first words to me were, "I wasn't wearing my gloves." Would the gloves had saved him from injury? Maybe not. My experience has been it gives you that split second you need to get out of the blade. I look at it this way, take your pick, either the blade hits your flesh or your glove. I'm going with the glove...

Again, I appreciate all the caution and even respect OSHA's guidelines. But, sometimes, it's hard to argue with success. I am not recommending others to do this. Find what works for you and, make your own choices based on your comfort and skill level. What you got to see on The Decoy Shed is simply what works for me with my comfort and skill level. Again, I am not recommending others to do this.

Because bandsawing is a dangerous and difficult topic, Tim and I have talked and are removing any footage dealing with it. Thank you for your comments and concerns. Pat
 
Just posted up a segment showing how Pat paints a Bluewing Teal Hen. This is the bird that Geoff Vine and Reggie Birch collaborated on to create the head and body. She's a sweet little bird. In total it took Pat just over an hour from base coat to final bill detail.
 
Pat and Tim, great job on the site. Very well put together and comfortable to watch. Like the music and the transitions.

I like how you show how you actually do things such as trimming the excess off the corners on the head etc. I would like to continue seeing it 100% real like you guys are doing it for real. I think maybe a don't try this at home or use caution across the bottom of the screen or something.

Keep on truckin!
 
As a somewhat aspiring carver/videographer I like the site and videos. In a segment I'm working on, I do something with the bandsaw that might look questionable but put a disclaimer on the shot to let the viewer know that I had in fact turned off the bandsaw which is not evident to the viewer (I sped the video up, muted the sound and added a background track).

I'm by no means an attorney, but something on your videos might be beneficial.

Keep them coming.

Mike
 
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